Spring toothed harrow



Nov. 23, 1954 c. A. GOOLEY ETAL 2,694,890

SPRING TOOTHED HARROW Original Filed Aug. 2, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Edaazrw/. Goo/s ff/Q2 71977619 A? Goo 6y 1954 c. A. GQOLEY ETALSPRING TOOTHED HARROW 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 2, 1945INVENTOR.

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Nov. 23, 1954 c, GQOLEY ETAL 2,694,89Q

' SPRING TOOTHED HARROW Original Filed Aug. 2, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 a iI i n IN VEN TOR. Z0406? 7"0 4- Goo United States Patent SPRING TOOTHEDHARROW Clarence A. Gooley and Edward L. Gooley, Harrington, Wash.

4 Claims. (Cl. 55-92) Our invention relates to improvements in a springtoothed harrow.

This application is a division of our application Serial No. 608,411,filed August 2, 1945, for Spring Tooth Harrow, now Patent No. 2,591,147.It is theprincipal purpose of the invention to provide a wheel supportedspring tooth harrow that can be controlled adequately as to depth and isnot subject to fouling by the loose material such as weeds and straw onthe surface of the soil being worked.

Our invention is embodied in a spring tooth harrow with a supportingframe on wheels so arranged that there is nothing adjacent to or underthe tooth carrying bars to catch trash and cause plugging. The frame isso connected to the supporting wheels and to the tooth carrying bars,that the Wheels do not cause entanglement of trash with the teeth andthe teeth do not entangle trash in the wheels. A minimum of parts are inengagement with the ground where they would be worn by abrasive soil andwould increase the power necessary to drag the harrow.

The construction of the frame and the mounting of the Wheels and teeththereon is such that the wheels may readily follow the contour of theground. Furthermore the wheel mounting and frame construction is suchthat in soft spots, and hard spots and on side hills, the teeth arealways positively controlled as to depth and the implement rests firmlyon the wheels and tends to stay up on the side hills.

A further object of our combination of frame and wheel support for thetooth carrying bars is to provide a harrow that will roll around a pivotpoint in turning corners of a field without tipping, so that severalunits can be linked together side by side at their front edges andturned without difficulty.

The nature and advantages of our invention will appear more fully fromthe following description and the accompanying drawings wherein apreferred form of the invention is shown. It should be understoodhowever, that the drawings and description are illustrative only and arenot to be considered as limiting the scope of the invention exceptinsofar as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a spring tooth harrow embodyingmy invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the harrow;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken vertically through theframe on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through one of the end supportsfor the harrow tooth mounting shafts;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating the centralmounting of the shafts to the frame of the machine;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 7-7 of Figure 2;and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the harrow showing it modified by theaddition of a third row of teeth.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, these figures illustrate our inventionas embodied in a spring tooth harrow. The teeth of the harrow areidentified by the numeral 20. They are constructed of flat spring steelbars and formed substantially as shown in Figure 1. These teeth arecarried by two hollow shafts 21 and 22 to which they are secured bylower clamping blocks 23 and upper clamping blocks 24. The blocks areclamped on the shafts by bolts 25 and the teeth are secured to the lowerblocks 23 by bolts 26. The teeth on the shaft 22 are usually staggeredwith respect to the teeth on the shaft 21. The teeth can be removed orshifted lengthwise of the shafts by loosening the bolts 25 and slidingthe blocks along the shafts without loosening the teeth on the lowerblock.

A frame 27 fabricated of angle iron and suitable braces, carries theshafts 21 and 22 by means of a series of U- shaped suspension bars 28having openings in the lower ends of the legs 29 in which the shafts canturn. .These bars are removably bolted by bolts 30 and 31 to the frame.The frame comprises two end pieces 32 and 33 and two center pieces 34and 35 of angle iron offset as indicated at 36 in Figure 1. The offsetis formed by cutting a notch in the side flanges and bending the topflange and welding the two sections of the side flange to each other atan angle. Two cross pieces 37 and 38 are bolted to the end pieces andthe center pieces. These cross pieces are angle irons too. Another angleiron 39 connects the front ends of the angle irons 32, 33, 34 and 35.Two short pieces 40 and 41 of angle iron are spaced inwardly from theend pieces 32 and 33 and are bolted to the angle irons 37, 38 and 39.Two bracing bars 42 and 43 connect the angle irons 38 and 39 between thepieces 40 and 41. Also two tie rods 44 and 45 are secured to thedepending fianges of the angle irons 40 and 41 and passed over apedestal 46 on the center pieces 34 and 35 and two other tie rods 47 and48 extend from the front ends of the braces 42 and 43 to the angle irons40 and 41. This construction provides a very rigid front center sectionfor the frame 27 where the heaviest draft strains occur.

The pieces 32 and 41 mount suitable bearings 49 and 50 for an axle 51 onwhich a wheel 52 is fixed. Likewise the pieces 33 and 4t) mount bearings53 and 54 for' an axle 55 on which a wheel 56 is fixed. As shown best inFigures 1 and 2 these bearings are carried by plates 49a, 50a, 53a and54a that are bolted to the flanges of the angle iron pieces. Theseplates are long enough to provide two sets of mounting holes so that theaxles can be lowered with respect to the frame from the position shownin Figure 1. The extra mounting holes are shown at 49b in Figure l. Thewheels 52 and 56 form the front supports for the frame 27. A single rearsupporting wheel 57 is provided at the rear ends of the center angleirons 34 and 35. This wheel is journalled upon the lower end of asupporting rod 58. The rod 58 is bent forwardly and then laterally andupwardly to extend through a bearing 59 which is mounted upon a heavyplate 68 that is bolted to the rear ends of the angle irons 34 and 35. Athrust collar 61 is fastened on the rod 58 to bear against the lowersurface of the bearing 59. This collar is adjustable vertically toprovide a fine adjustment of the depth of the spring teeth. Thus thewheel 57 forms a rear support for the frame at the center. Since thewheel can turn about a vertical axis in the bearing 59 it adjusts itselfto turning of the harrow at corners or on curves.

The supports 28 are provided on each of the angle irons 32, 33 and 35and are suitably braced as indicated at 29a on Figures 1 and 7. Theshafts 21 and 22 may be turned in the supports 29 by a suitablemechanism to change the elevation of the teeth and thus vary the depthto which they will enter the soil. This mechanism comprises a lever 62at each end of the frame. They are pivoted at 64 to a bar 65 that iscarried by two upstanding arms 66 and 67 the lower ends of which havesleeves 68 and 69 fixed on the ends of the shafts 21 and 22 by bolts 70and 71. A ratchet segment 73 is provided on the bar 65 and the lever 62has a spring pawl mechanism 74 for engaging the teeth of the segment tohold the lever in adjusted position. A hand lever 75 is provided forreleasing the pawl. The shafts 21 and 22 are divided at the center so'that one lever 62 may be operated independently of the other. Figure 5of the drawings illustrates the manner of connecting the two halves ofthe hollow shafts. A freely turning stub shaft 63 is carried by thesupporting bar 28-29 that is bolted to the center angle irons 34 and 35.The ends of the shaft 21 fit over the stub shaft. Two pins 72 aremounted in the two sections of the shaft 21 to prevent the stub shaftfrom being displaced.

The modification shown in Figure 8 is substantially like the main formexcept that three shafts 81, 82 and 83 are provided to carry three rowsof teeth 21. Also, extra frame 'mem'be'rs'S l and"85are provided and tworear swivelled' wheels -86,- and 87 -are-mounted onthese-mem bersinstead of the single rear swivelled wheel 57 in the main form. Threearms 29' are provided on the members 28'; A roundficrossbart88*connects==the members 84 and 85 to increase the strength: ofthe'rear end support.

In utilizing anyharrow upon weedy or trashy.soil:dif-. ficulty isencountered because of the accumulation ofwthe: trash nponithe' harrowteeth or upon the lower frame parts that engage the ground. Our wheeledharrow practically avoids this difiiculty. The low nose :or forwardframe'piece- 39 is at least-aslow as the wheel axles and the shafts 21and '22 'togive' a draftand keep the .rear teeth down. The draftexertsra leverage to-pull the back end down and keep; the rear wheel on.the ground'in hard ground. The'dropped front of the-frame also permitsthe use of asmaller wheel that can be set closer .to the teeth in thefront row and thus reduce the overall front to back dimension of themachine so it-canwmore readilyifollowthe ground contour inicrossinglowspots or humps. The teeth. do not have adjacent frame. members near thecurvedparts thereof to blockkthe-trashfrom passing be tween them..

Theconstruction just described has many advantages in operation and useby; the. farmer. The construction is such that the spacing of the teethcan be varied to suit the individual needs For example, in weeding it isdesirable to have teeth rather closely-spaced and set shallow. Forworking the soil a greater depth'is required and it is not necessary touse the teeth .so close together. The spacing is easily changed bylooseningthe bolts that clamp the blocks 23 and 24 to theshafts.Theentire tooth assembly can be removed from the frame by removing thebolts 30 and 31 and thus freeing the bars 28'from the frame and removingthe end sleeves 69. The depth of' theteeth can be set to suit anydesired requirement; As shown in Figure l the setting of .the frame onthe wheelsis fordeep penetration of theteeth. The levers 62 are used tolower the teeth into the soil. The frame can easily be raised on thefront wheels by means of the plates 49a, 50a, SSa-and 54a and the extramounting holes provided in these plates. The rear endof the frame isadjusted byraising and loweringthe collar 61 on the stem 58. that iscarried by the wheel 57. This enables the machine to be-set tothe rightelevation to bring the .teeth to the proper angle for penetration of thesoil, for the particular work to be done.

The wheeled construction of Figures 1 to 7 is particularly advantageousas constructed. In crossing low spots or valleys in a field or in goinglengthwise of the field the I fact that the rear wheel is at the centerline of the frame and close to the rear teeth, and the setting of thefront wheels inwardly substantially from the side edges make itpossiblefor the teeth to reach the lowest ground levels whether thevalley be crossed at an angle or be followed.

The fact that the entire framework is clear of the ground isparticularly advantageous in'the destruction of quack grass and similarweed growths. These weeds are turned over by, the teeth and cannot wedgebetween the teethand runners as they do in'th'e'ordinary' runner sup-.

portedspring tooth harrow. Thereare no parts sliding. on the groundtowear out'in gravelly soil. Also when the teeth encounter hard patchesof soil like the hard pan. patches found inthis area they stay in theground much better than the teeth of-the ordinary spring, tooth harrow.

The harrow teeth can be lifted clear'of the ground by the leversformovement across-fields where the teeth should not disturb thesurface. Also when the machine is to move along a highway it isnotnecessary to load it on to another vehicle.

The saving in power necessary-to pull our improvedharrow, when comparedto the ordinary'spring toothhar row, is particularly noticeable. Thesame power unit can pull at least'30% more-width of harrow'of our typethan it can of the usual type. This effects-a'considerable sav-' ing'inthe working of the soil;

It is believed to be evident, from the foregoing description, that wehaveprovided a novel spring tooth harrow construction wherein thedesired objects set forth at the beginning of. the specification areaccomplished. The particular mounting of the harrow has-the advantage ofenabling it to follow the ground contour quite closely. Since the onlyground engaging parts, other than'the teeth, are the wheels, the powernecessary to pull the liar-- row islow; Thetendencyto clog with trashisalso' low;

Lid

and, the variation in depth to which the teeth sink betweenhard soil andsoft -soil is kept at -a--minimum-.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described itis evident that many modfications may be made in the several partswithin the scope of the invention.

Having described in detail one form of our invention, we claim:

l. A spring toothed-barrow comprising a frame having a main horizontalportion. and a front .portion extending forwardlyand downwardlyzfr'omthemain portion, transversely aligned rigid shaft supports fixed to anddepending from'the-main frame portion near the front end thereof, asecond row of 'transverselyaligned rigid shaft'supports, fixed to andspaced rearwardly from'the first named supports and depending from saidmain frame portion, a shaft pivotally supportedtby the front shaftsupports at their lower ends, a shaft pivotally supported by the rearshaft supports at their lower ends, spring teeth carried by saidsshafts,means -;connected to. said.shafts for-.locking them against rotation tohold the teeth in .soilz'working."

position, .arearcaster; wheel supporting therear end. of the mainportion. of the frame, .said wheel having. a;sup.-: porting stem pivotedin said .frame,.,and.two spaced apart front wheelssupportingthe:frbntportionof said "frame; thezfront portion of said .framecomprising'afrontibar; two outer side frame pieces and a plurality of inner frame:piecesfixed to and. carrying-said front banandextending. upwardly andrearwardly from the front bar to the main;

frame-portion, a'cross bar-fixed to saidgframe piecesat theirv junctionwith .the main frame portion, said front wheels beinggspacedinwardlyfromthe outer side frame pieces and rearwardlyof the-front barofthe front portion of said frame.

2. A spring toothed harrow comprising a frame having a main horizontalportion and a front'portion'extending forwardly and downwardly from themain portion, transverselyaligned rigid shaft supports fixed to anddepending from the main frame portion near the front end. thereof,

a second row of transversely aligned "rigid shaft supports, fixedtoand'spaced rearwardly from the first named supports and depending fromsaid main frame portion, a shaft pivotally supported by the front shaftsupports .attheir lower ends, ashaft pivotally supported by-therearshaft supports at their lowerends, springteeth carriedtby said shafts,means connected to said shaftsrfor-lockingthem against rotation to holdthe teeth in soil working-position,- said shaft supports comprisingsuspension bars-removably securedto the frame, each havinga-front legmounting the front shaft anda rear'legamounting: the rear Jshaft wherebythe shafts and teeth may be removed from the. frame .as a unit, a rearcaster wheel supporting-ithe rear end of the main portion of the frame,said wheel having a supportingstem pivoted in said frame, and two spacedapart 1 front wheels supporting the. front portion -of. said frame, thefront-portion of said framecomprising-a front.- bar, .two outer sideframe. pieces and a plurality of. inner frame piecesfixed toand.carrying-.said frontbar. and. extending upwardly and rearwardly fromvthe front bar to the main frame portion, across bar fixed-to saidframe.pieces at their junction with the main frame portion, said front Wheelsbeing,spaced.inwardly fromtheouter side frame pieces and rearwardlyofthe front banofthefront portion of said frame. 7

3; A:spring toothed harrow comprising in' combination a front frame bar,twoside frame-pieces and azmiddle,

framepiecefixedto the front barandextendingrearwardly therefrom, said.frame pieces each being bent intermediateits-ends. to provideafrontframe-portion risingrearwardly from the frontbar andamainfr'ame.

portion extending horizontally from the front frame por-. tion, a. crossbar connecting: saidpieces at.the top. rear ends of said front portions,fr'ont wheels between the front:

bar andsaid cross bar supporting the front frameportion, a trailingcaster wheel'at therear of'said main frame portion having a verticalsupporting stem pivotedto the main frame portion, .spring tooth carryingshaftsbeneath said main frame portion,= a.susp ension bar boltedito eachside frame piece and a third suspensionbarrbolted .to. the. middle,frame piece,,saidbarshaving depending legs, in;

which the shafts are mounted.

4. A spring;toothed'harrow comprisingin combination. a front'frame bar;two. side frame pieces and-azmiddle.

frame piecefixecltothe front barand. extending rearwardlytherefrom,saidframe pieces :eachbeing bent'intermediate its ends ;to: provide afrom .frame portion rising:

rearwardly from the front bar and a main frame portion extendinghorizontally from the front frame portion, shafts beneath said mainframe portion, spring teeth fixed to said shafts, suspension membersdepending from the main frame portion, the shafts being rotatablymounted by said members, means connected to said shafts for locking themagainst rotation to hold the teeth in soil working position, a cross barconnecting said pieces at the top rear ends of said front portions,front wheels between the front bar and said cross bar supporting thefront frame portion, and a trailing caster wheel at the rear of saidmain frame portion having a vertical supporting stem pivoted to the mainframe portion. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent Number 5 586,737 604,289636,371 636,477 1,899,306 10 Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name DateGuerne July 20, 1897 Babcock May 17, 1898 Whipple Nov. 7, 1899 WhippleNov. 7, 1899 Botnen Feb. 28, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date FranceIan. 16, 1933

